Friday, August 4, 2023
By:
The Penultimate Week is finally here! Yea I know I’m writing this on the last day of week 10 but I can’t help my avoidance issues. This is too much emotion for one person to handle and I’m barely getting through. Bear with me while I wander through memory lane and try not to cry on my keyboard.
Monday. I actually have no idea what I spent Monday doing but I assume I worked on my projects / presentation for a good amount of time and then went for a run around the National Mall one last time. I attempted to go to the Old Post Office Tower but apparently Biden was in town and the streets were a mess. Yet another failed mission (this is the third time I tried to go).
Tuesday was another day of trying to finish things up. Let’s just assume from here on out that I spent my mornings and early afternoons working so I don’t have to keep boring you by repeating that sentence. Anyways, later that night Jenna and I walked over to the Lincoln Memorial where they were having an outdoor concert with the Marine Drum Corps. Unfortunately, a thunderstorm rolled in and ended the concert early but that didn’t stop our fun! Hannah, Tiffany, and Ruthie had walked over before they knew about the rain so we all ended up trying to go over to the Lincoln steps to get some cool pictures of the storm. It was another failed mission but much more enjoyable with those guys around. After that, we wandered home and ended up playing Azul in Devin and Jaden’s room where I proved that yes indeed I am the Azul champion and everyone else can kindly bow down. Fantastic night!
Wednesday I had a tattoo appointment at 5 so I finished up work and headed over to Georgetown. It was just a touch up so it only took about 45 minutes, leaving me with plenty of time to grab dinner before I caught a performance of “Rent in Concert” at the Kennedy Center with Julia, MJ, Ruthie, and Jenna. I had never been to the Kennedy Center before and let me tell you it is worth all of the hype. It’s a beautiful building with amazing views. The performance itself took my breath away. Julia and I sobbed our way through the final songs and then headed home where I watched more reality TV with Gizem and Augozi. 10/10 evening.
Thursday. We had a resume workshop which proved to be incredibly helpful. Though, I did waste a little bit of time during the meeting with Janessa making some excellent character comparisons to my fellow interns ( Clay = dad from cloudy with a chance of meatballs, Jaden = Bobby from the Goofy Movie, Tiffany = me watching my food in the microwave). After that, Jaden graciously allowed me to use his pool for the last time where I sat out in the sun and worked on my articles. I hung out with him and a few of his friends before the real excitement happened: the final installment of our intern D&D. Don’t worry guys, Danny Devito reunited with his one true love and Laverna was able to grab the secret cow cure from the lab thanks to leadership and teamwork of their crew. In all seriousness, I am incredibly grateful to MJ and Emily for putting in the work to create this world and mission for us. It was a great introduction into the game and I wish we had more time to play again. To Bethy, Jade, and Avery: you were amazing crewmates and will be sorely missed. Gavin: Please go see a doctor you’re having delusions about the war again.
Friday was a tour of NIST run by my very own roommate Gizem Dogan. When I tell you that that place is amazing I am severely understating it. Holy crow. We went on three separate tours of different labs within the building. First, we visited an Additive Manufacturing Lab. Devin and I, the two engineering majors of the group, lost our marbles. I had learned about all of the equipment in my classes but never had the opportunity to see any of it in real life. We actually ended up finding out that they offer internships within that department so fingers crossed I might try and go for that next year! After that, we went to the Trace Explosives and Narcotics Detection where we learned that Jaden is a cocaine addict! Kidding. Just on the weekends. Actually, we learned that 90% of printed US money contains trace amounts of cocaine and watched how the machine is used to detect it. We then saw one of the coolest demonstrations that I really have no idea how to explain but I’ll include pictures so you can see. Then we saw the million pound force stack, the biggest non-electromagnetic one in the world. I was geaking out. After that we saw the library and Newton’s apple tree. Not Kidding. I told you NIST is an insane place. We took one last tour of their clean room and then packed up our leftover pizza to head home. We planned on going to see the Princess Bride outdoor at the Kennedy Center, but unfortunately mother nature had other plans yet again. We stayed in and played Quiplash instead and absolutely berated Devin. It was a great last weekend with the group.
Saturday was a rather chill afternoon. I went to Rakuya with Janessa and enjoyed a nice brunch. After that I worked on my presentation and read for most of the afternoon until it was time to go to the piano bar with Devin, Janessa, Tiffany, Hannah, Jenna, Ruthie, and Emily. The pianists were amazing and played Callin’ Baton Rouge not once, but TWICE. I wish we had found that place earlier because I haven’t had a more wholesome night than that.
I spent Sunday walking a total of 9 miles around the city. I took myself out for coffee and FINALLY made it to the top of the Old Post Office. The view did not disappoint. I then wandered around the National Mall and explored the museums I hadn’t been to yet. I wanted to reenact National Treasure but unfortunately I do not possess the same criminal prowess that Nicolas Cage does. I came home later that night and then wandered over to the roof of the Kennedy Center to enjoy the view with Hannah, Janessa, and Jenna. The sunset made me very nostalgic but the company kept my spirits high.
It technically is already midnight on the last day of our internship, but this blog post is long enough. Stay tuned for next week if I make it through!
Brynn Schierenbeck